1861: Thaddeus S. C. Lowe transmits the first telegraphic message ever sent from a balloon during a test at the Columbia Armory, Washington, D.C.

1877: Samuel Archer King makes a two-hour airmail flight of 26 miles between Nashville and Gallatin, Tennessee, in the balloon Buffalo.

1922: The first soaring flight of one hour in slope lift (using hill currents) is made by Arthur Martens in a Vampyr sailplane designed by Wolfgang Klemmperer at the Wasserkuppe, Rhön, Germany.

1925: Benjamin Robert Rich is born in Manila, Philippines. He would become known as the “Father of Stealth,” after succeeding Kelly Johnson at the famed Lockheed “SkunkWorks.”

1939: The first direct transatlantic seaplane service is begun by Pan American Airways. It flies from New York to Southampton, England, by way of Botwood, Newfoundland, and Foynes, Ireland.

1965: In Operation Arc Light, the U.S. Air Force flies the first B-52 Stratofortress missions of the Vietnam War, striking enemy positions in Bến Cát District in South Vietnam. "Arc Light" will become a commonly used term for B-52 raids during the Vietnam War.

1971: Southwest Airlines commences operations.

1981: First flight of the F-117 Nighthawk.